Elder flowers at EPT San Remo

Wednesday, 4 May 2011

Rupert Elder is the latest name that can added to the extensive list of British EPT winners after triumphing in San Remo on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old went into the final day holding the chip lead and kept up the pressure throughout to set up a heads up encounter with Max Heinzelmann. It was to be heartache again for the EPT Berlin runner up though and in even more unfortunate circumstances than he met in the German capital. Heinzelmann was just one card away from victory holding the nut straight against Elder's bottom set with virtually all of the chips in the middle. A second ace on the river paired the board though putting the former Warwick student firmly in the driving seat. The end came soon after after Elder's dominating A5 held up against the German's Q5.

“I’m very happy to have won, very excited. It hasn’t actually sunk in yet. Max is a great player – he was definitely my toughest opponent at the table.” said an understandably delighted winner. Elder was gracious in victory though, adding "I think he played better than me heads-up."

Elder takes home a massive €930,000 in cash for the win as well as an EPT bracelet worth €16,200 and a seat in the EPT Grand Final in Madrid later this month. Heinzelmann's disappointment will be sated somewhat by a €600,000 pay day which takes the 20-year-old's earnings in the last two EPT events to an amazing €1,100,000.

Tuesday is the deadline for all working Americans to have submitted their income tax returns to the federal government and Juicy Stakes and Intertops Poker are set to mark this annual occasion by holding a special freeroll competition featuring a $1,000 top prize.

“We run a lot of higher stakes tournaments for our more hard-core players,” said Intertops’ poker manager. “But since our network is generally pretty soft, we created this series to give less competitive players a shot at winning.”